Thursday, April 3, 2014

Badgers Push Through Barrier And Make It To The Final Four In 2014

Ever since Bo Ryan became the head coach at Wisconsin back in 2001, the same things have been said
about his Badgers teams on a yearly basis. “Oh they are a solid team, but their
style will never translate well come tournament time”. “Will this be the year
they finally make a deep run in the NCAA tournament?” “Bo Ryan’s system will
not allow them to ever get very far in the tournament until his staff starts
recruiting better athletes”. These are just some examples of the various statements
made about Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers teams. I’ll bet he is as tired of
listening to them as we all are of saying them. Well Bo, if you are tired of
listening to them, then do something about it. It took over a decade, but for the first time ever, he finally did something about it.

The Wisconsin Badgers will be making their first ever trip
to the Final Four this weekend under Bo Ryan when they travel to Dallas along with Connecticut, Kentucky, and Florida. I for one had Connecticut losing in
the first round. Oops.

I could sit here for the 48th time and tell you
the strengths and weaknesses of this team- strength: best starting five in America,
weakness: Absolutely no bench to speak of. But that would be a waste of time as
you know that already. I will say this. Yes Wisconsin does deserve credit for making
this run, but they also got very, very lucky. They were placed as a two seed in
what was by far the weakest of the four regions. The number one in that region,
Arizona, was
going in reverse towards the end of the season. Yet again on Saturday, they
will get lucky. They will get an inconsistent Kentucky team instead of say Wichita State, Louisville, Duke, or Michigan.

Let’s not dwell on that though. Right now, Bo Ryan should
enjoy this moment. This moment is pure vindication for a man who has done
something he has been told for over a decade he could not do, and for that, I
say congratulations, you proved me and everyone else who said that to be wrong.
Well done.